Here are Debbie's Updates From April in the order in which she posted them.
Journal entry by Debbie Heiman — 4/11/2017
I've been updating a little bit more on FB lately. For the non Facebook users, I will bring you up to date. Scott and his friend Matt made it safely to Georgia and back home on Saturday. They enjoyed going to the Masters on Thursday. It was a windy day, but decent temperature and no rain. I'm so glad that they had a nice trip!
Scott had his CT scan last night. We will be getting the results on Thursday morning. It's a long time to wait, but we'll get through it by leaning on God for strength and lots of prayer.
I'm posting some pictures from the trip to Georgia along with some pictures from the park on Sunday. It limited me to 5 pictures, so I couldn't post all of them.
It has been 2 years since we went to the ER for Scott's problems. We weren't expecting to hear the word cancer, much less find out the severity of it on April 15th. It's been a LONG, hard 2 years! With God's help, and with the help of so many who love us, we have pushed through and not let this horrible disease ruin us!
I was just telling our kids how awesome and strong they are to have made it through 6 whole weeks without seeing us while we were in New York for Scott's surgery. I missed Scott so much after being gone for 3 days!
Hannah (11 at the time of our NY trip) just told me it was the worst/best summer of her life. Having us be gone and worrying about Dad so much made it the worst of course. What made it the best was being able to spend 6 weeks with Nana and Papa. Most of the time was spent at their house on the lake. They made so many great memories last summer. I will be forever grateful to Gary and Karen Heiman for loving our kids and taking such good care of them the whole time! Scott and I didn't have to worry about them as much. What parent wouldn't worry though???
This is a trying week to say the least, but God is holding us in the palm of his hands, and I can feel his love all around us! God is so very good!
I will be updating sometime on Thursday with the results of his scan. In the meantime, all we can do is PRAY and trust in God's plan for our family. He knows what our future looks like, and I gaurantee he will always have our best interest in mind. We just don't always understand.
Thanks to all who truly care about us! It keeps us going more than you could ever know! We love you all!
Journal entry by Debbie Heiman — 4/13/2017
Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise him all creatures here below, praise him above ye heavenly host, praise Father Son and Holy Ghost
I woke up 3 times in the middle of the night and this doxology kept playing over and over in my head.
I want to shout praises to God from the mountaintops and let the whole world know what a good and gracious God we have!
Last night, I went on our hospital's MyChart page to see if Scott's CT scan results might be posted. I figured they wouldn't be, but one of our Dr's had sent a message to us saying, Scott's scan is stable! See you in the morning.
It has been 2 years since we started fighting this beast. There are many DSRCT warriors who aren't doing well after 2 years. I never take a day for granted, especially after knowing what all of these fighters are going through. It's really hard to understand when you're not in the middle of it all. I'm not asking anyone to try to understand, but to join us in singing praises to our gracious God for giving us 2 more years with Scott and for continuing to bless us with his presence here on earth! God's not done with Scott yet, and I'm so thankful! I know what an inspiration he has been to so many! I'm the luckiest woman to be his wife! He is a very special man!
We still go to see Dr. Charlson at 9AM. Thankfully the nerves will be settled. We need to discuss what our next step is. There was no change since the scan in January, which means that the only tumors visible on the scan are in his liver. The fighting is far from over friends, but this is something worth rejoicing over!
I'll update more after our appointment today to let you all know what our next step will be.
Journal entry by Debbie Heiman — 4/13/2017
In case you missed my previous entry, Scott's scans are stable! There has been no change at all since January. Praise the Lord!!!
I can't even imagine how great it feels for Scott to have a break from treatment! I know how great it makes me feel, and I'm not the one dealing with the physical part of it. Well, he will get an additional 6 weeks before he has to go back to the hospital, God willing. That's 2 1/2 months with no chemo! What a huge relief for Scott!
We discussed our future plans with Dr. Charlson today. I had questions about the cancer in Scott's liver and whether or not to jump right back into chemo. He thought it would be fine to wait.
His lab results from Monday are excellent! We haven't seen that great of numbers yet. He gained 3 lbs since his last visit, which is great! He says that it's thanks to the fried food that he ate in Georgia.
We decided that we should continue to take a break from treatment and allow Scott's body to continue recovering from the treatment that he has been burdened with for 2 years! This will allow our family to fully enjoy Lexi's Confirmation and 8th grade graduation. Hopefully Scott will be feeling great for these events.
We have a PET scan scheduled for May 30th, with results on June 1st. After the PET scan, we'll decide what our next steps will be in his treatment plan. We will just take it one step at a time and enjoy each day that we are blessed to be spending together!
I met another wonderful woman whose husband was just diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Please pray for Matt and Laura and their 10 year old daughter! I know how hard this journey is, and my heart breaks for this beautiful family! I told her that 2 years ago, I would never have dreamed that we would come this far. Scott has been such a fighter and no one should ever give up hope! I can tell that she's a fighter and will encourage her husband every step of the way!
This Caring Bridge site is therapeutic for me. It's like my journal, but it also allows me to keep hundreds of people updated on Scott's health. Thanks for taking the time to read my updates, pray for Scott and never take life for granted!
Journal entry by Debbie Heiman — 4/19/2017
Wow! It has been almost 6 weeks since Scott finished his last round of chemo! He is continuing to feel better and gain some strength back the further he gets away from treatment. We can only dream of a life with no more treatments. Unfortunately, this wonderful break is not our reality for Scott's future. Don't get me wrong. We continue to pray for miracles and to believe that God will work all things out for our good.
Having the faith that we have in God's perfect plan, also allows me to realize that our way may not be God's way. If I could choose our future and tell God how my life should be, I would tell him that Scott and I are going to watch all of our children grow up and have beautiful families of their own. We are going to enjoy the retirement that Scott has worked so hard to provide for us with his hard work and commitment. I have many hopes and dreams for our future. We don't know God's plan for our family. We just have to keep trusting in God and believing that he has our future planned for our good. It's so hard to imagine why Scott having cancer can be good, but good things have taken place in the past 2 years.
2 years ago today, we were sitting at Froedtert, terrified for Scott's life. He had just been told on the 15th that he had a very fast growing Sarcoma cancer called Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor (DSRCT). I rushed Scott to the ER on the 18th because his heart was beating too fast and off rhythm. He was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation in 2001, so we knew that he was having an episode. After 48 hours of doing everything that they could do to slow his heart rate down from 150-200 BPM, they had to perform cardioversion on him. We are so thankful that it worked and got his heart back into regular rhythm.
That was just the beginning of a very long road ahead! I can't believe 2 years has gone by already. We have had many difficult days along the way.
God has blessed us with time! It is a difficult road for our family to be traveling on every day, but I am thankful that we know what our future may hold. There are people who are taken tragically from this world, and families don't have the chance to spend time with them and say the things that they wanted to say, but never had the chance. I know that we are blessed and I never take our time together for granted.
You never think that something like this could ever happen to you, until one day, it hits you out of nowhere! You are just enjoying your life, and then your world gets turned completely upside down with the dreaded words, "I'm sorry, but you have cancer."
I hate that word, and I hate what it does to people, especially the people that are the most important people in my life - The 2 people who love me no matter what, 100% unconditionally.
Mom and Scott, you 2 never cease to amaze me! If I didn't know you both so well, I would think you are both pretty healthy. Unfortunately, you both struggle with things that no one would ever know. You don't complain and you hide so much from others. You have strength that can't be explained, but I know that it comes from God. I pray that he continues to give you both the strength to keep fighting.
God has a plan for both of you, and he's not done with you yet. I can't imagine how many lives you have touched. I know that it's more than you could ever imagine! You are both a huge inspiration to me, and so many others! Keep shining your light and letting God lead you down the path that he has chosen for you! I love you both!
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